The U.S. stock market is overdue for a correction, but there is no obvious trigger; there are better investment opportunities in Europe than in the United States going forward; Japan is beginning to make the necessary structural changes to pull out of its doldrums; and the worst is over for most of Southeast Asia's markets.
These are the views of six investment professionals gathered for Pensions & Investments' annual investment outlook roundtable, held Nov. 18 in London.
The six noted the U.S. economic position is very strong now, and it probably would take an external shock to trigger a correction, but the U.S. market should underperform other markets in the immediate future.
They believe there are good stocks available in Europe, and that pressures for structural change continue to mount that will help European companies become more competitive.
The participants were:
*Dean Buckley, chief investment officer, equities, Europe, HSBC Asset Management Ltd., London.
*Alan McFarlane, managing director of Global Asset Management Ltd.'s institutional division, London.
*Allan McKenzie, investment director, Scottish Widows Investment Management Ltd., Edinburgh.
*Nilly Sikorsky, managing director-Europe for Capital Group International Inc., Geneva.
*Dick Snijders, managing director, Philips Pensioenfonds, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
*Tony Thomson, chief investment officer, Foreign & Colonial Management Ltd., London.
The edited transcript of the discussion begins below (Part 2):
